Barbadian swimmer Kai Trotman wins bronze at US Championship, sets personal best

Barbados: A young swimmer from Barbados, Kai Trotmas secured a bronze medal in the 50 yards freestyle with new personal best time of 21.37 seconds at the American Rivers Swim Conference Championship in Iowa last week.  

The 20-year-old has represented Barbados in swimming events at CARIFTA Games, Caribbean and Central American Swimming Championships and UANA Games and he is presently a student at Nebraska Wesleyan University where he is pursuing a degree in Exercise Science. 

According to the information, he is a member of the university’s swim team where he continues to excel in swimming as he competes in 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly yards events. 

In 2023, representing the university in the NCAA American Rivers Conference Championship in Iowa, Kai won the bronze medal in the 50 yard freestyle event and he was a member of the University’s 4x50 yard relay winning team that created a new Conference record at the meet. 

A talented athlete from his primary school days, Kai enjoyed track and field, cricket, squash and swimming and represented the People’s Cathedral Primary School at NAPSAC, the Herman Griffith Cricket Primary School Cricket Competition and the Primary Schools Swimming Championships. These earned him Sportsman of Year Award when he graduated from People’s Cathedral Primary School. 

He continued these activities at Queen’s College and was a valuable member of the school’s track and field team at the inter-secondary schools' athletic championships (BSSAC), the under 13 and under 15 cricket teams and the swim team at interschool swim sports. 

It was however swimming that he dedicated a large amount of time to training and competing. From age 7 he has been representing Barbados in the sport and has made the national team for the Goodwill Games, CCCAN Games and the CARIFTA games. 

In 2017, he broke a 19-year-old national record in the 11-12 boys 50m freestyle event– a record that was held by Olympian Martyn Forde.  

In 2018, he was a member of the national record-breaking team at the UANA Swim meet in Florida. That year he also won 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in local invitational meets.  

In 2019 Kai won the 50m freestyle at the National Long Course and Short Course Meets, the inter-school swimming Championships and the Aquatic Centre Invitational meet where he also set a new meet record. 

As an outstanding swimmer he also took up the challenge of water polo and he competed for the Barbados national water polo under-17 team at the Riptide meet in Florida. 

Away from the pool, Kai was a member of Queen’s College Key Club, and he was able to balance his academics to gain passes in ten CSEC CXC exams of which, six were grade ones and four were at grade two.  

Kai who is a member of Black Sails Swim Club, graduated from Queen’s College and attended sixth form at The St. Michael School before enrolling at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.